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April 2004, 24 posts, 521 lines

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The gadgets at the Cultural Center: are they promoted as art .. or just gadgets? or is it a book promotion?

(curious)/jno

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What is this show? I've been out of town for a couple weeks. Does it include a phone that throws itself at people? I heard they have those at the Cultural Center now but don't know enough details to confirm this gossip about certain staffers.

Marc

jno wrote:

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Cursed show.

Lord knows they were featured on Artbeat.

[http://wttw.com/artbeat/]

Link will take you there, but the site doesn't show much.

K

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On Mon, 5 Apr 2004, Marc Fischer wrote:

Near as I can tell it is can openers and veg-o-matics.

(they probably work, too)/jno

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On Mon, 5 Apr 2004, jno wrote:

[http://chicagoart.net/eventlist.php?mon=4] &date=8&year=2004&cal=0

HTH(have to have)/jno

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Marc,

That's not really funny.

Curt

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Humor is very subjective. Know some details about about the public art of phone throwing that you can share without having to worry about a lawsuit?

Marc

Curt Conklin wrote:

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Here you go on the Bellagio thing, Adam.

light mode> then programs

[http://www.twcdc.com]

The artist's name is Andy Cox.

K

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ah, the isn't that amazing show.

yes, lots of veg-o-matics, and other o-matics.

they were designed, made and sold by a Chicago family, the Popeils, who started out on Maxwell Street in the 40s and have ended up on every late-nite broadcast nowadays with such products as the Showtime Rotisserie.

it's not an art show, rather a history/design/americana show. the commercials are pretty funny, and the bass-o-matic skit from Saturday Night Live is a classic. for disclosure's sake, it was curated by my husband and we use most of the gadgets at our home. I am partial to the slice-away, the chop-o-matic, and the inside-the-shell egg scrambler. the record vaccuum does not work -- do not try it at home. the sit-on trash compactor is a relic from the 70s, and the spiral slicer makes a great gift. didn't see the artbeat show, so don't know how that was.

on another note, does everyone in other group know about the Artists Space and Housing Expo this Saturday at the Cultural Center? If you're interested, I can send you info. Health insurance, mortgages, rehearsal space, housing, storefronts, studio space, business tools, etc. lots of workshops.

regards, Barbara K.

On Monday, April 5, 2004, at 10:19 PM, Kathryn Born wrote:

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On Tuesday, April 6, 2004, at 08:32 PM, Kathryn Born wrote:

When did I say anything about defeating capitalism?

I don't know what that ACOS site is and generally don't load strange things on my computer. Maybe you could shake out the details for me? Coagula ran a funny blurb on it a month or two ago (MFA,B & Bellagio). Managed to drop some great names and make a point at the same time, and implicate Pace Wildenstein. These contemporary topics don't seem to interest anyone in this group, so if you don't I won't hold it against you.

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Little housekeeping,

Barbara, in case you notice my "cursed show" comment, it's a private joke. Up until 5 days before Artbeat aired, it looked like my show had that spot, but when the show aired, we had lost it to the Ronco show. I had joked/mourned about this with Jno at the opening. So know it's nothing against the exhibit.

Adam, I can cut and paste it for you, but the whole thing is satire. Nothing is loaded at all, it just takes you to another web page. The html page looks like your control panel of your PC, but it's just a web page. It's not the capitalism part I was pointing you to, but a spoof on the Bellagio thing.

Satire is tricky.

K

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no problem, Kathryn. I think its a "curs-sed" show too, but for different reasons. I thought it was funny to that you described it as such.

did you ask artbeat if ther will run your spot next week?

B

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Hi Barbara, It was their season finale until fall.

And back to the sales-experience-is-helpful-in-the-artworld thing: one thing they say in sales is that the biggest problem is that you're selling to someone who doesn't have the power to buy. And I believe my contact at Artbeat wasn't the right person to push it through. Next time I will go up a level.

Just to bore everyone, I'm really happy with the show. The really funny compliment I've gotten is "It looks so much better than I thought it would." But from a financial perspective, it was a total flop (so far). I know it's not the key issue, but my fish sculptures spoiled me, I'm used to rolling in, loading up, and doing an art equivalent of selling fruit out of the back of a truck. So this work is more experimental and expensive and nothing moved. I also could see we didn't have a buying crowd. The crowd was hip, but young.

So I am re-grouping, re-thinking, re-publicizing. I was "filled with fear" in the grocery store, trying to cut down on expenses to try to recover from the loss. I was planning on doing the show again in 3/05, but now I think I will wait for 18 months, just to be more seasoned and better situated.

But I got the curating bug. Making a piece of art is to try to create an experience for the viewer. Curating a show is just like making art, that instead of one piece, your art object is a room or a space and you try to create an experience for the audience by arranging other people's work. It's like found art. I totally dug it.

One project I'm doing post show, is (Web) publishing essays from artists who work with text, but after this experience, just for fun, I want to also do some interviews and discussions called "Conceptual Realities: Forbidden Discussions on Financing Conceptual Art". I just want to explore to see if conceptual artists have any options outside of universities, government money, or corporate sponsorship. Who has purchased artwork that cannot be displayed in the home? Why did they buy? For what purpose? Where did the work go? Talk to artists and collectors and follow the trail. Like investigative journalism :).

Pax, K

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I've been pretty good about not ranting, especially considering my temper. So let me start with a solution, rather than the complaint.

If you are an unknown artist or curator, and you wish to be covered by the Chicago media, I suggest the following steps to get your show listed in a free publication.

Hire a hooker. There is a hooker for every budget range, as low as $5 I hear. Simply have them go to the front desk of the publication, and ask who they need to blow in order to get the exhibit listed.

Because I have learned one thing during my show: faxing, emailing, and calling, along with follow up, simply does not get you listed. The reader merged my ad with another artists and put in the wrong phone number, and even crappy rags like CityLink will not even put a LISTING on the promised date. Of course New City just blew it off, but I've heard that's pretty standard.

Think outside the box, people. Think outside the box.

Kathryn

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Having had little luck with media listings over the years (although I've had good luck with the Reader), I've used websites as a marketing push. Generally, if I put in just enough lurid imagery and interesting links, I can feel assured that when I do an email bomb the site will get spread around.

Erik

Kathryn Born wrote:

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Kathryn, I know someone who did almost the same thing to get some permits through the building department a while back...

I hate to sound like an old fart, but you need to be patient and tenacious. And you need to follow up with listings folk who made a mistake. The reader people are really pretty good about this stuff, and they genuinely want to have accurate and complete listings. Can't speak to Citylink (never heard of it) and I don't know what's going on at New City (I just read some huge article about a fabulous sounding nightclub....that didn't include an address for the place. (maybe that was intentional to keep it uber-exclusive!))

Having talked over the years w/ curators, critics, reporters and editors in Chicago print and broadcast media, what I can report is that they both keep track of artists and events, and they have pretty major limitations for space or airtime. So if this show didn't get the immediate coverage you wanted (and almost/should've gotten on Artbeat), if you keep up the faxing, emailing, etc., you stand a good chance of getting more coverage next time. Plus, you are doing a pretty good job already it sounds like -- word-of-mouth (or word-of-othergroup) is always a stronger link than merely a listing.

Of course you should still keep thinking outside the box...

: ) Barbara K.

On Thursday, April 15, 2004, at 02:55 PM, Kathryn Born wrote:

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Hello,

Does anyone have a few decent-looking pedestals I can borrow for the Stray Show? I need 2 or 3 from May 5th to May 10th. Any info will be rewarded with beer.

Thanks, Gabe

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Gabe - didn't you learn anything from Rodin? Pedestals are so last millennium. Beer, however, is timeless. : ) Marc

Gabriel Fowler wrote: "Does anyone have a few decent-looking pedestals I can borrow for the Stray Show? I need 2 or 3 from May 5th to May 10th. Any info will be rewarded with beer."

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Come down to the gallery you can have whatever I have. MT

From: Gabriel Fowler Reply-To: group at othergroup.net To: group at othergroup.net Subject: othergroup 2151: pedestals Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2004 17:56:08 -0700 (PDT)

Hello,

Does anyone have a few decent-looking pedestals I can borrow for the Stray Show? I need 2 or 3 from May 5th to May 10th. Any info will be rewarded with beer.

Thanks, Gabe

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Yeah, re the media, I was livid. I won't continue to rant, but there is simply not enough art media to go around. Art, and especially experimental art, is an afterthought. We are covered because they are covering all the cultural art bases, but there is no love. Only obligation. As always, I have some big ideas and big plans, to deal with this in the future.

But on a different note, I'm doing research on Fluxus. I've dug the movement for a long time. I do like Yoko Ono's work. You can say what you want about Ono, but just know I will fight you tooth and nail defending her. We all have types of art we like, and Fluxus has this ... it's hard to say weirdness when talking about the art world, because it's all so weird, but it's still really weird. And some of it was awful. Maybe not awful for the time, because it was radical, but if you go with my old professor's philosophy that - "What is art?" - is a moot question, it wouldn't be that relevant if you did it some of that work today. It would just be bad art. Some of it. Some of it is still fantastic.

But anyway, I came across a funny quote or two:

And another. Yeah, I was livid. I won't continue to rant, but there is simply not enough art media to go around. Art, and especially experimental art, is an afterthought. We are covered because they are covering all the cultural art bases, but there is no love. Only obligation.

As always, I have some big ideas and big plans.

But on a different note, I'm doing research on Fluxus. I've dug the movement for a long time. I do like Yoko Ono's work. You can say what you want about Ono, but just know I will fight you tooth and nail defending her. We all have types of art we like, and Fluxus has this ... it's hard to say weirdness when talking about the art world, because it's all so weird, but it's still really weird. And some of it was awful. Maybe not awful for the time, but if you do with my old professor's philosophy that "What is art?" is a moot question, it wouldn't be that relevant if you did it today. It would just be bad art. Some of it. Some of it is still fantastic.

But anyway, I came across a funny quote or two:

And another.

(this is why I think "It hurts" by Collings is the best art book)

K

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Kathryn Born wrote: "But on a different note, I'm doing research on Fluxus."

Did you read the interview with Hannah Higgins in Mouth to Mouth? Here is the link

[http://mouthtomouthmag.com/higgins.html]

She points out that it was the art world that couldn't deal with the Fluxus art, not the public, and that you now find 'Fluxus' types of events on anything from David Letterman blowing up appliances to Australians living in the windows of Sears store in the Loop.

MB

--------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25

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Great interview. Funny, my quote was also Higgins, I just couldn't think of the name. But it's a reminder of Jno's points about art writing. I was a crouched in the corner of a bookstore, reading the Fluxus Experience, feeling like it was a little dry, but then hearing stories about these Fluxus kids eating soup from cans signed by Warhol are just awesome, and gives a great sense of the movement.

But I tell you, it might not happen in my lifetime, but I see a day where we stop naming art movements. New movements will rise, and should get named, but so much of it is just a new take on an old influence. Thank you for the article too, because I was thinking of doing a Fluxus remake show. But I would never want to do a straight remake of Fluxus works. Like here's a thought I had, there was a funny picture from a Fluxus kit with like "Orifice plugs". Well, back then an orifice plug was.... Well it's was a pretty clean cut piece, inhalers, etc. And to do a remake of an orifice plug flux kit and not have some modern day weirdness in it would be ... It would be like antiques rather than a new art experience.

On a tangent, I'm just digging an art book I'm reading called "Artful Jesters" by Roukes. It's art that's funny, ironic, light, fucked up, surreal, but all the art piece really connect in this book and he really makes a strong point. Mostly that humor, however it's defined, (and he does some heavy defining of humor) is coming into being artistically. And jest in art had a history of stigma. And I think Fluxus, and some of this cartoony work, and the art-viewing public becoming more mainstream,
- and I think conceptual art has really just gotten started- are all kind of moving into a contemporary movement without a name.

K

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I recommend the book "Mr. Fluxus" about George Maciunes. (sp?). Kind of a collectively written memoir with a lot of interesting anecdotes. You can borrow it from Harold Washington Library.

Marc

Kathryn Born wrote:

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Hi folks

So, I'm doing this booth at the Stray Show, and there are a few thing that would really help. (I already inquired about pedastals a while ago - thanks Michael.)

Now I really want a magazine rack. Or any type of point-of-sale book-display item. Surely somebody has something like this collecting dust in their groovy loft apartment.

Hook me up!